1. Phonetics & Phonology John Corbett: USP-CAPES International Fellow
Session 8: Contrastive analysis: consonants

2. Today´s session This session:
English and Brazilian phonological systems
Consonants
Today´s session

3. Source of information

4. General Consonants RP English has 24 consonants
The unshaded consonants have near equivalents or equivalents in Brazilian Portuguese.
When pronouncing English the red consonants can cause most problems, though others can raise issues.
General p b f v θ ð t d s z ʃ ʒ ʧ ʤ k ɡ m n ŋ l r j w h

5. When pronouncing English the red consonants can cause most problems, though others can raise issues.
/θ/ and /ð/ are pronounced /s/ and /z/ or /t/ and /d/.
Try saying... think sink
thinker tinker
breathes breeds
breathes breezes
/θ/ and /ð/ p b f v θ ð t d s z ʃ ʒ ʧ ʤ k ɡ m n ŋ l r j w h

6. When pronouncing English the red consonants can cause most problems, though others can raise issues.
/ʧ/ and /ʤ/ can be realised as /ʃ/ or /ʒ/
Initial /t/ and /d/ before /i:/ or /ɪ/ or /ɛ/ may be pronounced /ʧ/ or /ʤ/
Try saying... chair share
pledger pleasure
tease cheese
Deans jeans
/ʧ/ and /ʤ/ p b f v θ ð t d s z ʃ ʒ ʧ ʤ k ɡ m n ŋ l r j w h

7. When pronouncing English the red consonants can cause most problems, though others can raise issues.
An initial /r/ in Portuguse can be realised as an unvoiced trill and can be confused with the fricative /h/.
Initial /h/ in English has no Portuguese equivalent and is often elided. Sometimes it is added unnecessariy (eg ham for am)
Try saying: read head
right height
heat eat
/r/ and /h/ p b f v θ ð t d s z ʃ ʒ ʧ ʤ k ɡ m n ŋ l r j w h

8. In Brazilian Portuguese, final /s/ and /z/ are generally pronounced /s/.
Try saying: rice rise
dross draws
peace peas
Note that in Europe (and Rio) final /s/ and /z/ can be / s/ or /ʃ/
Other issues p b f v θ ð t d s z ʃ ʒ ʧ ʤ k ɡ m n ŋ l r j w h

9. Vowels before /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ are nasalised, and so the consonant itself may be practically elided.
Try saying: John
calm
ring
Other issues p b f v θ ð t d s z ʃ ʒ ʧ ʤ k ɡ m n ŋ l r j w h

10. Dark /l/ in final position or before a consonant is often vocalised, that is, it becomes a vowel like /ʊ/. This happens in some English accents (eg in London) too.
Try saying: milk
bottle
heel
Other issues p b f v θ ð t d s z ʃ ʒ ʧ ʤ k ɡ m n ŋ l r j w h

11. Consonant clusters (especially with /s/) & juncture
The range of consonant clusters in English is much wider than it is in Portuguese and so epenthetic or ‘extra’ unstressed vowels might be added, especially in clusters with initial /s/. This also happens when the same consonant ends one word and starts another (juncture)
Try saying:
I need space. I need a nice big steak.
I get off at this stop. At that time we’ll be ready.
Initial clusters that don’t occur at all in Portuguese are /str/, /skr/, /spl/ and /spr/.
We’re going to be on strike.
It makes me want to scream.
There was an almighty splash!
I won’t see her again until spring.
Consonant clusters (especially with /s/) & juncture

12. English and European Portuguese are stress-timed languages
English and European Portuguese are stress-timed languages. Brazilian Portuguese (and some World Englishes) are syllable- timed. This has effects such as:
Misplacement of stress on compound nouns, such as a tea cup.
Misplacement of stress on longer words, e.g. demonstrators.
More weight is given to weak forms, sometimes suggesting unintended emphasis or aggression, e.g. I wanted his book, not his bag.
Rhythm

13. FOCUS ON YOUR OWN ACCENT
In groups of 2-3 try transcribing ALL of the following passage in your own accent. Are there disagreements in the group about any of the sounds you produce?
Please call Stella. Ask her to bring these things with her from the store: Six spoons of fresh snow peas, five thick slabs of blue cheese, and maybe a snack for her brother Bob.
FOCUS ON YOUR OWN ACCENT

14. The Speech Accent Archive
The Speech Accent Archive

15. Brazilian speakers of English

16.
Narrow transcription (phonetic, not phonemic)
Obstruent = fricative or plosive
Portuguese speaker 14

17. Another Scottish accent…
Another Scottish accent…

18. Full passage
Please call Stella. Ask her to bring these things with her from the store: Six spoons of fresh snow peas, five thick slabs of blue cheese, and maybe a snack for her brother Bob. We also need a small plastic snake and a big toy frog for the kids. She can scoop these things into three red bags, and we will go meet her Wednesday at the train station.
Listen to some other accents too, and check the transcriptions and notes

19. Teaching pronunciation: turning knowledge into action
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